Projects Funded for Alain de Janvry
2015-2016
Reducing Environmental Refugees on California's Labor Market
Alain de Janvry and Elisabeth Sadoulet
2010-2011
Mexican Land Titling Program and Farm Labor Migration to California
Alain de Janvry
Abstract
During the period from 1993 to 2006 over half of Mexico's arable land was formally titled to more than 3 million households in the land reform sector. In this research, we assess whether this change in property rights is affecting the migration of farm labor to the United States. We take advantage of the rollout of the land certification program to identify the impact of gaining land ownership over the household's migration behavior. We find that the probability of having a migrant living and working outside the household increases on average by 28% when the household has been reached by the program. If migration of Mexican farm labor toward the United States is a concern, the land titling program offers a unique opportunity to use greater security of property rights and incentives to invest to promote the adoption of labor intensive high value crops among recent land owners.